A week have passed.
Saranjana Bar is as quite as usual.
In this one week, nothing major happened.
Except for a few scandals regarding heroes.
[ The number one hero of Indonesia and the number two hero of the Maphilindo Alliance, Chakrawala had voiced his opinion regarding the cowardice of a certain hero. ]
Switch!
[ Adi Wira has been silent ever since he rejected the challenge from our hero Vioflare. ]
Switch!
[ Chakrawala now regarded the number one hero of our city, Vioflare as his newest rival! ]
Switch!
[ Adi Wira! a hero or a fraud?! ]
[ Adi Wira has rarely appeared in the public in the recent years while our hero Vioflare had just saved a group of innocent civilians from a detonating shockwave grenade in a building located at a downtown of Undercity ]
"Oh come on, this Vioflare is pissing me off." Makoto complained as he continue to switch the channel.
Sadly for him, being the gossip loving the media industry is, they had paid almost all the channels to broadcast the scandal regarding Vioflare and the number one hero of Maphilindo.
"Is he like a big deal?" Karen suddenly asked, tweaking with the device in his hand. Of course although he asked this he doesn't any attention to the redhead.
It has been a week ever since their successful 'heist'. In that time, after waking up from his sleep Karen had noticed all the notes on blueprint. Naturally others would have had wonder, where is these notes came from?
But no, Karen being the little nerd he is immediately went on a hypercalculation mode to break the codes. Some of the notes were written as it is, simple, easy to understand and require no effort.
Some were written in Arabic. Arabic without the tashkeel and the harakat. Badly written at that.
Growing up in Samara, a county located in the Middle East with the majority being Arabs and jews with a few sprinkles of Christianity here and there. Arabic was literally his second language.
However the person who wrote the Arabic has one hell of a bad writing.
Even worse, some notes are written in a mathematical formula!
He hadn't touched maths in years!
Makoto scoffed, "Just another corpo baby. Only popular because he's hot and has endorsement."
"And that Adi Wira is...." Karen finally stopped with the gadgets in front of him and look up.
Makoto smirked, "A good hero but because of bad marketing with disciplined and also has a stern face all the time everyone globally hated him. All in all a hero who actually does his job."
"Not the Malaysians though. They loved him. They even voted him as the number one hero of Malaysia just because they want to piss of the Indonesians who supported Chakrawala."
"Oh, and he's formerly an imam at the mosque near his house and was a former soldier who achieved quite the achievements when he was young."
"He's also hot."
Makoto takes a sip from the coffee in his hand continue his yapping.
"And the girls loved strong young muscular soldier turned hero. They even called him 'Abang Wira' because he's overprotective of his wife and would definitely betray the alliance for her."
Karen no longer bother listening. Instead he continue on his project.
"You're always busy with that little project of yours."
"At what time will we meet the client?"
The person who had requested for the battery have asked to met them at a certain location a week later. Now that the week had passed, today should be the time to go there.
Makoto looked at his watch, "In a few hours."
Karen nodded.
"Where would we be meeting?" Karen asked.
"Somewhere located at the abandoned industrial resort of Undercity." Makoto replied.
Karen doesn't think much about it. After all, just how big could an industrial resort be?
Poor Karen regretted his thoughts.
The industrial resort although abandoned is still as big as an entire small town.
It was enough to house a few hundred families despite half of it's infrastructure had already been consumed by wild plants.
The buildings were tall, with some already shrouded in roots and vines of trees.
In some of the buildings, Karen can see a few figures watching over them as they drove the truck closer.
"Don't be surprised, Cybercity is big. Extremely vast despite being a micro nation. It's size alone is equivalent to the size of a small country." Makoto chuckled in amusement when he sees Karen's reaction.
Moments later they arrived at one of the many abandoned buildings located in the middle of the resort.
Upon arrival, they were greeted by a man guarding the place.
They were brought to the top floor where Karen met a person he had not expected to meet.
A man wearing a black trench coat. Underneath, he wears a black button up shirt that clungs tightly to his body, revealing his lean figure. A slim black slack paired with a dark belt with green buckle and dark leather gloves adorned his hands.
The man looks up, meeting the youth's gaze.
A pair of mismatching eyes met his gaze. Purple on right and green on left. A sly smile adorned his face as he plays with the deck in his hands.
"I have not expected that it's going to be the young man I've met quite some time ago." Nicardol smiled slyly like a fox.
Karen narrowed his eyes.
Nicardol Flamios. In all honesty, the man had never crossed his mind even once after their first meeting.
Of course, the impression that the latter had left him was still enough to make him remember him even after a week.
Sensing the boy's reaction, Nicardol waved his hand, "Please, young Brandon Don be afraid. I'm only a third party tasked with receiving the goods and sending it to the employer."
Despite this, there is a teasing tone from the man's words.
Makoto in the background us already clutching his stomach, trying his best not to laugh.
Karen only rolled his eyes.
Swoosh!
The box Karen was holding was thrown into the air. The box landed on Nicardol's grasp.
"The employer had told me that the payment will be sent to both of your accounts in a few hours after he received the good." Nicardol explained to the two before giving a simple bow while tipping his fedora.
Nicardol was about to walk out of the room when suddenly Karen calls out to him.
"Hang on." Karen suddenly stopped him.
Nicardol who was about to walk out suddenly stopped.
The man turns, his mismatching eyes gleaming in an odd light.
"Half the payment will be yours but I need something." Karen suddenly said.
"And that is-"
"District 666th, I need permission for something."
"I'm afraid the payment won't be enough." Nicardol said calmly.
"I also have something that the gangs controlling that district need." Karen lifted his shirt then under the eyes of those who are present, Karen split his stomach open.
Unexpectedly, there was not even a single drop of blood present.
Karen's belly was opened and his organs inside was present for all to see. Makoto and a few of the guards feels like they want to vomit.
Karen's fingers pierced through the his stomach.
Right then and there, Karen pulls out a a device. A small metallic box. It was the same type of box the Hummingbird Corporation had used to contain the batteries.
"A better battery than the one you are holding right now." This was all that Karen need to say for Nicardol to be impressed.
"Are you insane?!!!" Makoto shouted at Karen the moment they stepped into the bar.
Karen walked passed him.
"Oi! Don't ignore me!"
Karen entered the kitchen and get himself a glass of water.
A cough is heard.
Karen indifferently glanced at the middle aged man who is standing on the doorframe.
"You'll get yourself killed sooner or late." Wak Tolak said sternly.
"Will you stop me?"
Wak Tolak sighed, "Your old man already told me a lot about you from the letter you gave me."
"He wants to keep you safe but also want you to find your own path."
"The path of justice, protecting the innocent, or the path of villainy filled with blood and sins. Both blood run inside of you. Which one will you choose?"
The words of the old man resounded inside Karen's mind.
The cup Karen was holding crack to million pieces, falling to the floor like pieces of his old dream.
Heroes.....
I hate that word.
_____________________________________________________
The door to Karen's room was kicked opened by none other than Makoto.
"Oi Karen I want to say I'm -where did he go?" Makoto asked confused.
In the ground floor, Wak Tolak sighed as he placed a letter on the bar.
"A lot like his old man. Too reckless sometime."
The wind howled, a sign of an upcoming storm.
Cybercity is as usual. Glowing in neon lights with heroes patrolling the streets. The night had long settled in, but to the people 9f Cybercity, it is just the start of their day. To be more precise night.
On top of a tall decaying building located within the districts of Undercity, Nicardol smiled in amusement the moment he sensed the presence approaching him from behind. His hands move with precision, shuffling the cards without a sweat.
"You're quite fast for someone who is hesitating." Nicardol didn't bother turning to face the boy.
Karen's voice was flat, "The mission. Don't waste my time."
"For someone as young as you, you sounded quite violent." Nicardol amused.
All the cards in his hands glowed in violet colour.
Silence.
"It runs in the family." Karen said flatly, crossing his arms.
"Quite the messy legacy I suppose?"
Karen did not reply.
Nicardol chuckled. He flicked his wrist, throwing all the cards into the air. In an instant all the cards exploded into glowing green smoke. From the smoke, countless pigeons flew out into the distance.
"Well let's just say that you've impressed quite a high ranking individual and he wants you to help him with something." Nicardol finally turns to the boy.
The man flicked a card from underneath his sleeve and with another flick, the card exploded into violet smoke.
The man smiled pike a fox as he handed Karen a package.
"These bad boys will come in handy. Hopefully you won't need it. The side effects will he somewhat too much for someone with a powerful aspect." Nicardol whispered into Karen's ears.